Radiator shield



L. R. CLAUSEN RADIATOR SHIELD Dec. 7, 1948.

Filed Jul 26, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 gwue/rvbom LON R. CLYXUSFLN L. R.CLAUSEN RADIATOR SHIELD Dec. 7, 1948.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 26, 1944 71' LE N R Lfl m Patented Dec. 71948 1. .5

Leon R. Clausen, Racine, Wis, assignor to I. 1.1

Case Company, Racine, Wis, a corporation Application July26, 1944,SerialNo. 546,681

This invention relates to shields for screening thexair supplied to coolthe enginesof farm machines such as harvester-threshers, balers, cornpickers, etc., of tractors pulling such machines,

or of any engines working under. dusty conditions.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a screening shield forpreventing trash, chaff, insects and the like from clogging the enginecooling system, thus avoiding interference with or stoppage of air forcooling the engine.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shield designed tomaintain a relatively large screen in the stream of cooling air, whichscreen is substantially free from'foreign particles.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shield which may befreed of a substantial part. of any chaff or other foreign matteradhering thereto by reason of the operation of the engine.

fan, without stopping the engine, thereby ensuring an adequate supply ofcooling air without loss of operating time. i a

My air screening device may be applied to screen the cooling air whichis drawn through the radiator of a water cooled engine, or it may beused to screen the air for cooling an air-cooled engine. i

In accomplishing the objects of the invention, the screening shield isformed of a box-like casing having inlet and outlet openings throughwhich the cooling air for the engine passes. A screen is arranged overthe inlet opening to screen out all material which might clog thecooling radiator or the cooling fins on the engine. A damper ispivotally mountedwithin the casing between the two openings and isarranged so that when moved to closed positionit substantially cuts offthe air stream flowing through the casing. The damper is biased bysuitable means normally to rest in open position. a r

In one form of the invention, the shield isconstructed as a stack havinga lower or first section covering the front of the radiator and an upperor second section extending above or to alittle distance from theradiator to provide a relatively large space into which air is drawnthrough screened Walls. A damper is provided intermediate the twosections, and by closing the damper the upper section of the shield orstack may be isolated from the lower section, thereby cutting off thesuction from the upper section, so that most of the accumulated chaffand foreign matter will immediately drop away from the screened walls ofthe upper section, whereupon the damper is again opened and theoperation continues.

Ihe damper may be controlled by the operator 3 Claims. (01. rec- 53),

3015 the machineuwithout stopping it, or in the case of a combine or thelike, without interrupting the forward travel.

Variouszarrangements for the accomplishment of the above objects appearin the accompanying drawings; but it .is =to .beunderstood that theinvention is notlimited to the details: disclosed butincludes all suchvariations and modifications as fall within the spirit of the inventionas herein expressed.

In the accompanying drawing: a Figure 1 isafrontelevation of a radiatorshield inaccordan-ce with this invention;

Figure 2 is a slde elevation of the shield of Figure lapplied to theradiator of a water cooled engine; w 1. i .1

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional side view of a simplified formof shieldapplied to the front of a cooling radiator; r

l Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view of another shield constructionapplied to an air cooled engineyand Figure 5 is a sectional view ofFigure 4 taken along line r Reierringtothe drawingin detail, the shieldof Figures 1 and 2 is shown as consisting of a lower section designatedgenerally by the numeral I, and an upper section designated generally bythe numeral 2. The lower portion of the upper section 2 in thepresentinstance is telescoped into the upper portion oi -the lowersection I, and preferably detacha'bly connected therewith in anysuitable manner. it

The section I referably is formed of sheet metal, substantiallylboxshaped, and adapted to be detachably secured in any suitable mannertoa radiator such as indicated in dotted lines at 3 and having an airintake 3a. The rear wall of this section isopen or cut out to provide anoutlet opening substantially conforming in size and shape with the coreof the radiator or intake 3a, and the front Wallis provided with asimilar opening across which is secured a screen 4. The bottom wall ispreferably of arcuate shape from front to back, as shown in Figure 2,and is provided with a suitably hinged and latched door 5, through whichaccess may-be had to the radiator with the shield in position thereon.

The upper section 2 is formed of a frame construction includinga frontangle-iron 6 in the present instance bent into the form of an arch, andasomewhat shorterrear angle-iron 1 also bent into the form of \anarch.Rigidly connected with the lower ends of theangle-iron i. is a plate 8preferably formediof sheet metal which slopes downwardly and forwardlyand is connected at its forward edge with a similar vertically disposedplate 9.

The plates 8 and 9 provide a solid rear wall for the lower portion ofthe upper section 2, and the plate 8 also provides a sloping bottom wallfor the upper portion of this section, thereby reducing the girth of theupper section at the bottom thereof to conform with the girth of thelower section I. Thus a relatively large upper section is providedhaving a restricted throat ll! in communication with the lower sectionI.

cured to the side edges ofthe plates 8 and 9,, and I upper section, Thefront wall of this section is ,28cmay be provided normally to hold thedamper pulling on the rope 29a attached to the arm 29!) is, secured tothe damper 29 at the pivotal formed of a screen [2 secured tqthearchedangle;

iron 6. The rear wall above the plate 8 is formed of a screen l3 securedto the arched angle-iron 'l',

the several screens constituting a screened air inlet which may beisolated from above mentioned air intake 3a. v

Pivotally mounted within the throat l'llis a damper [.4 shown in itsopen position in full lines. and having its closed position indicated bydotted lines. The pivotal mounting for the. damper I4 is provided by arod" [5. rigidly secured to the damper, and suitably journaled intheside walls of the section I. If desired, thedamperrod may bepivotally mounted on the lower end of upper stack section 2. One endofthe. rod; l5 projects beyond the adjacent side wall,.and is formedwith an angular extension [5w having a pull-rope or cable l'l. securedto its outer end. Thedamper normally is held in its open position bymeans of a spring l8 having its respective ends connected with theextension l5a and a. part of the, shield. The rope I! extends to a pointconvenient 13013118 operator of the machine or vehicle.

In the use of a shield of Figures l and; 2, partof' the air supplied to.the radiator is drawn through the front screen 4, and the remainingairis drawn through the walls of the upper section 2, and then through thethroat Ill and into the lower section. Should the screen 4' becomeclogged with chair, insects or other foreign matter to such an extentthat the flow of air therethrough is materially restricted, the majorportion of the air is supplied automatically through the screened air,inlet from the upper section 2. through the throat Hi. In the event ofsufficient clogging of the upper screens ll, .I-2 and l31to: materiallyrestrict the flow of air from this source; to the radiator, a pull bythe operator on the rope i! will close the damper lkthereby cutting offthe suction tending to holdthe foreign matter against the outer surfacesof the screens of upper stack section 2, and immediately permitting thesame to drop off, after which the pull ropemay be re leased, enablingthe damper M-to-bereturned to its normal open positionby the action ofthe spring l8. Upon stopping of themachine for some other reason, thescreen 4 may be cleared of. its accumulation of foreign matter adheringthereto either manually or by stopping the engine to eliminate thesuction tending to cause the foreign matter to adhere to the screen. Thehingeddoor 5 provides an opening in the. shield through which the frontside of the radiatormaybe cleaned of any slight accumulation of trashthat'mayfindits way through the screens of the stack.

Figure 3 shows a simplified form. of-screening shield applied to thefrontof a radiator. In this arrangement the shield is formed of a shell2.5

enclosing the radiator lfii andproyided with-"an outlet opening 21through which air is drawn into the radiator for cooling the same. Theremainder of the shield is formed of a box-like casing 28 secured to theshell and extending forwardly of the radiator. The entire casing may beformed of suitable screen material, but at least a portion of the lowerwall shown at 39 may be formed as a solid panel. A suitable damper 29 isarranged inside of the shield and is pivoted at its-lower edge to theshell-25 and is arranged to close the outlet opening of the shield whenmoved to vertical position. Suitable biasing means such as spring inhorizontal position as shown in Figure 3. The damper may be moved intovertical position by axis thereof.

- Theoperation of Figure 3 is believed to be clear from the foregoingdescription of operation of Figures 1 and 2. In this case practicallyall of the wall area. of the casing forming the; shield is formed ofscreen material and constitutes the inlet opening of the. shield, andthe damper 29. is arranged to substantially cut off the flow of airthrough the shield when moved to vertical position.

In Figures 4 and 5 I have shown a. form of screening shield suitable foruse on an air cooled engine 3| having a crank-shaft 3?. which carries aventilating or cooling fan 33 located at the front of. the engine. Thefan 33 is adapted to direct a blast of cooling air about the cylinder orcylinders 34 of the engine and is enclosed in a casing or shroud3.5.having an intake opening 35a in front, of thezfan. Shroud 35 issoshaped as to provide a tangential or other suitable pasageway 35bdisposed so as to direct a blast of air against or about cylinder 34.The screening shield is mounted in front of the shroud 35 and has anoutlet opening 36 in registry with theinlet opening oi'the shroud 35.The shield is formed of a casing 31: which conveniently may have a formwhich flares upwardly from the inlet 35, and is provided witha screenedair inlet 38. at the top thereof. A damper 39 is pivotally mountedwithin casing it"! between the outlet 36 and the inlet 38 and isnormally held in vertical position by suitable biasing means such as aspring 392), but may be moved into horizontal position to substantiallyclose off the. casing and interrupt the air flow through the casing. Anoperating arm 39a; is provided foroperating the damper by means of arope39c in=a manner already described in connection with Figures 1 and 2.The upperend of the casing 31 may be suitably braced to a fixed part Ofithe engine 3P0]? any fixed part of the connected;machine by means ofbracket 46. A trap door 4| is provided in the front wall of the casing3.1: in: front of the crank-shaft 32 for applying a starting crank tothe engine and for cleaning out the lower part of casing 31. i The.operation, of Figures 4 and 5 is believed to be clear from the foregoingdescription of operation of the other embodiments of the invention. Itwill be understood that the screening shield in thisarrangement willprevent the trash and other foreign matter from becoming lodged betweenthe radiating fins on the cylinders 34 of the engine or from becominglodged in any other part ofthe engine. By this arrangement theefficiency of the cooling system is maintained at a high level.

While shields onengine cooling systems have been; used h retofore, the dculty. fclo -sins has dictated the use of screens of larger or coarsermesh than would be desirable. Such a screen would appear to remain clearmerely because the finer material would pass through. This material,however, would not always pass through the radiator and in time cloggingwould result, thus defeating the purpose of the screen. Byvirtue of thefact that in the present invention the screens may besubstantiallyinstantly cleaned, and as often as necessary, a screen of finer mesh canbe used than has been possible heretofore, and a greatly improvedfiltering of the cooling air is accomplished, i

I claim:

1. In a screening device for engine cooling air, a radiator shieldcomprising a, lower section adapted to be mounted in front of a radiatorand an upper section having its upper portion of materially greatergirth than the lower section, and further having a restricted lowerportion attached to the lower section, said upper section having frontand rear screened walls and further having screened side walls merginginto a rounded screened top wall, a damper pivotally supported at theregion of the restricted lower portion of the upper section, springmeans normally urging the damper to open position and manually operablemeans connected with the damper for moving the same to closed positionagainst the action of said spring means for interrupting the draftthrough said upper section for dropping accumulations of suspendedmaterial from the screened walls.

2. In a screening device for engine cooling air, a radiator shieldcomprising a lower section adapted to be mounted in front of a radiatorand having a screened front wall, an upper section having its upperportion of materially greater girth than the lower section and furtherhaving a restricted lower portion attached to the lower section, saidupper section having front, rear and side screened walls, a damperlocated in the restricted lower portion of the upper section andswingable into a closed position, sprin means normally urging the damperto open position and manually operable means connected with the damperfor moving the same to closed position against the action of said springfor interrupting the draft through said upper section for droppingaccumulations of suspended material from the screened walls.

3. In a screening device for use with an engine having a cooling airinlet to be protected from suspended particles, the combination of acasing having an inlet opening and an outlet opening registering withsaid cooling air inlet for passing a stream of cooling air through thedevice and through said cooling air inletya screen covering the inletopening in said casing for interrupting suspended material in said air,a damper pivot-ally mounted in said casing and swingable into a closedposition to substantially cut off said air stream and cause material onsaid screen to drop therefrom by gravity, biasing means normally actingto hold said damper in open position and manually operable control meansfor actuating said damper into said closed position at will.

LEON R. CLAUSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 212,291 Wetherill et a1. Feb. 11,1879 523,652 Heine July 24, 1894 1,384,822 Bruce July 19, 1921 1,751,739Jacobsen Mar. 25, 1930 1,860,697 Traviss May 31, 1932 1,945,180 CarterJan. 30, 1934 1,955,354 Winslow Apr. 17, 1934 2,021,853 Curley Nov. 19,1935 2,080,988 Schulz May 18, 1937 2,128,957 Morrison Sept. 6, 1938FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 518,461 Germany Feb. 16, 1931

